A series of 11 towers with hydraulic mechanisms controlling 36 cables under the ship, and attached to its side, slowly rotated the vessel, directing it towards six specially built platforms drilled into the granite rock bed.

At a press conference earlier this morning, supervisors of the Italian-US project said the vessel had lifted by an angle of about 25 degrees towards the vertical axis, with about 30 more to go.

Once it had risen by 24 degrees, the ship begin righting itself thanks to gravity and giant tanks welded onto one side which were to fill with water.

Salvage operation costing more than $859 million

Earlier, after shifting the ship off the rock shelf, Costa Cruise technical team leader Franco Porcellacchia said: "The ship is reacting very well because it's rotating in a uniform fashion, which is what we expected, but it's a pleasure to see it confirmed."

At a cost estimated at more than 600 million euros ($859 million), it is expected to be the most expensive maritime wreck recovery, accounting for more than half of an overall insurance loss of more than $1.18 billion.

Oil booms surround the vessel to intercept waste water and oil trapped in the ship, but no significant environmental damage has been observed.